Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by John Steinbeck
Summary
&
Semiotic Criticism
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com
aloud that a woman could travel independently like the tinker, but he responds that it wouldn't be
the right kind of life for a woman. She pays him for the pots, and he prepares to go.
She remarks that she could do his work, but he repeats that his life would be
inappropriate for her. He leaves, and she offers a final piece of advice on the chrysanthemum
sprouts, which he appears not to understand, as though he'd forgotten she'd even given them to
him. She watches him drive away, whispering to herself. Elisa returns to her house, removes all
of her clothes and bathes. When she's finished, she stands in front of her bedroom mirror and
studies her body. She slowly gets dressed, taking her time to put on her nicest, prettiest clothes
and carefully style her hair and do her make up.
Henry returns, and Elisa waits while he bathes and gets dressed. He tells her she looks
nice, but when she presses him about what he means, he seems confused and repeats that she
looks nice, and different. She remarks that she feels strong.
They drive to town together, and Elisa notices a dark speck on the road in the distance.
She realizes it's the chrysanthemum sprouts that the tinker has dumped by the side of the road,
keeping the pot. Eventually, they overtake the tinker's wagon, but Elisa refuses to look at it as
they pass. Elisa asks Henry about the boxing fights in town, then asks if they can get wine with
dinner. He agrees. She again asks him about the fights, and if fighters hurt each other a lot - she
explains that she's read they can be quite violent. Henry, surprised, asks her what's wrong, and
tells her that if she wants to go to the fights, he'll take her, but he doesn't think she'll like it. She
answers that she doesn't want to go to the fights - wine will be enough. As they continue to drive,
she turns up her coat collar so he can't see that she's crying.
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com